Despite a rather difficult year, Cheryl Burke is heading into 2023 stronger than ever before!
The 38-year-old “Dancing With The Stars” alum took to TikTok to reflect on her tumultuous year — which began with filing for divorce from her now-ex-husband, Matthew Lawrence, 42.
“When you see me crying at 11:59 p.m. on NYE don’t think it’s because I’m sad,” she captioned a video of herself strutting to the beat of an emotional audio track. “It’s because I f—ing MADE IT through the year that did everything it could to try and break me, and there were a lot of moments when I thought I would but here I AM.”
Burke continued, “Ready to move forward, to no longer be defined by my past, and SO ready to start the next chapter of my life. 2023, LET’S SHOW’EM HOW IT’S DONE!”
Burke and Lawrence tied the knot in May 2019 after getting engaged the year prior. Before the “Dance Moms” personality filed for divorce in February, the pair were due to hit their third anniversary.
Burke and the “Boy Meets World” alum first met back in 2006 when the latter’s brother Joey Lawrence competed on Season 3 of the competitive reality series when Burke was a “DWTS” pro. The pair began their romance in 2007 and dated for a year before going their separate ways and eventually rekindling their love affair in 2017.
According to TMZ, at the time Burke listed her date of separation as January 7 and after news broke of their separation, the TV personality addressed her fans on Instagram.
“I know I have always said I’m an open book with you guys, I do strive to be, and in writing this I’ve realized there really isn’t an easy way to announce that my marriage is ending,” Burke began in a statement.
“I hope you can understand that I will not be commenting any further at this time and am asking for understanding and privacy,” she added. “Thank you all for all the kind words and support you’ve given me.”
In an interview with Extra back in May, Burke opened up about how she had been taking the steps to move forward with her life after filing for divorce from Lawrence.
“As far as me and how this is going, it’s really, I’m not proud of it, it’s a s— show… My emotions are constantly up and down, I’m sad every morning I wake up, I am sad every time I go to bed at night,” She confessed at the time. “It’s really nothing to hide here as far as like divorce sucks. I don’t recommend it, but at the end of the day, you know, it’s not like we didn’t try and I know we gave it a good shot.”
Burke and Lawrence finalized their divorce in September, according to E! News.
Meanwhile, in addition to her divorce, Burke also made another big life change — this one being in her career — in 2022. The choreographer announced her retirement as a professional dancer on “Dancing with the Stars,” which she had appeared in since Season 2.
Burke revealed the news on Instagram ahead of the Season 31 finale last month.
“I am sitting here full of so many conflicting emotions about the words I am about to write. Tomorrow night will officially be my final dance as a pro dancer on @dancingwiththestars,” she wrote in part. “This has been one of the absolute hardest decisions of my life & I am also confident that it is the right one. This show has been my 2nd family since I was 21 years old. The cast, crew & fans have seen me through my highest highs & some of my lowest lows, & I honestly don’t know who I would be today without them.”
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